Delinquent Property Taxes in Colorado: The Redemption Rate Is a Formula, and It Is Frozen to Your Sale Year
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Colorado · Last updated October 21, 2026
Most states print the redemption rate in the statute book. Colorado prints a formula instead. Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner did not pay by the date the state set, after which the county charges interest and can eventually force a sale to collect them. What the county sells first is a tax lien, not the house. The lien goes to whoever pays the taxes, delinquent interest and fees due, or who further pays the largest amount above them, and that excess premium is credited to the county general fund (C.R.S. 39-11-115). The owner keeps title and the buyer holds a certificate of purchase. The cost of getting clear is then pegged to a moving federal benchmark. The annual rate of redemption interest is nine percentage points above the discount rate a commercial bank pays the federal reserve bank, rounded to the nearest full percent, and the commissioner of banking sets it on September 1 each year to take effect on October 1 (C.R.S. 39-12-103). The figure for the period beginning October 1, 2026 is 13 percent. Because the rate attaches when the certificate is sold, two neighbours who fell behind in different years carry different rates. The calendar runs in two stages. The tax lien sale commences on or before the second Monday in December (C.R.S. 39-11-109). Only after August 1 of the third calendar year following that sale may the holder apply for a treasurer's deed, which opens a second public auction (C.R.S. 39-11.5-102). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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How much interest does it cost to redeem a Colorado tax lien?
A rate set by formula, not a figure written into the statute. The annual rate of redemption interest is nine percentage points above the discount rate, rounded to the nearest full percent, established each September 1 to take effect on October 1 (C.R.S. 39-12-103). For the period beginning October 1, 2026 the Division of Banking puts it at 13 percent.
When does a Colorado county hold its tax lien sale?
The sale of tax liens on property on which taxes remain delinquent must commence on or before the second Monday in December each year (C.R.S. 39-11-109). The treasurer mails first class notice of the delinquency no later than September 1, and that notice must allow at least fifteen calendar days to pay (C.R.S. 39-11-101).
When does the right to redeem actually close in Colorado?
At the treasurer's deed auction, and the filing comes earlier than the auction. An owner is entitled to redeem only if an intent to redeem is filed with the treasurer no later than seven calendar days before the scheduled public auction date, and the redemption statement then lasts ten business days or until noon the day before it (C.R.S. 39-11.5-106).
When do Colorado property taxes become delinquent each year?
Taxes become due and payable on January 1 of the year after they are levied and delinquent on June 16 of that year (C.R.S. 39-10-102). A taxpayer may instead pay in two equal installments, the first by the last day of February and the second by June 15, or in full by April 30 (C.R.S. 39-10-104.5).
Colorado delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Delinquent property taxes in Colorado are taxes an owner failed to pay by the statutory date, after which the county treasurer adds interest and can sell a lien on the property to collect. Three things set the state apart. The charge to redeem is indexed, not fixed: nine percentage points over the federal discount rate, rounded to the nearest full percent and reset every September 1 (C.R.S. 39-12-103), so a certificate from one sale year and one from the next can carry different rates for their whole lives. The premium an investor bids above the taxes goes to the county general fund and never forms part of what the owner repays (C.R.S. 39-11-115). And since June 1, 2026 no deed issues until the treasurer has run a separate public auction, scheduled thirty to sixty calendar days after notice is mailed (C.R.S. 39-11.5-109).
A Fort Morgan house where the sale year, not the statute, sets the rate
Picture a Fort Morgan bungalow whose 2024 taxes of roughly 2,900 dollars go unpaid. A lien on it sells at the Morgan County tax lien sale held in November 2025, and a bidder adds a 400 dollar premium. That premium is credited to the county general fund, so the owner never repays it (C.R.S. 39-11-115). The certificate instead carries the rate for that sale year, which the county treasurer publishes as 14 percent, and the treasurer notes the rate stays the same for the life of the certificate. Interest runs from the date of sale and part months count as whole months (C.R.S. 39-12-103). The holder cannot apply for a treasurer's deed until after August 1, 2028 (C.R.S. 39-11.5-102). The figure owed on any given day is for that treasurer's office to certify.
Relevant Laws
Session Laws of Colorado 2026, chapter 135 (Senate Bill 26-144): the enacted act now governing treasurer's deeds
Approved May 19, 2026, effective June 1, 2026. This act repeals and reenacts with amendments the whole of article 11.5 of title 39, which had only been created in 2024, and it is the operative text for C.R.S. 39-11.5-102 (a lawful holder may apply for a treasurer's deed after August 1 of the third calendar year following the date of a tax lien sale), 39-11.5-104 and 39-11.5-105 (notice of the application, the mailing list, publication for three successive weeks and posting on the property at least thirty calendar days out), 39-11.5-106 (the property owner redemption procedure, the seven calendar day intent to redeem, and the redemption statement effective for ten business days or until noon the day before the auction), 39-11.5-107 and 39-11.5-108 (the itemized bid form, the minimum bid, and fees and costs chargeable as additional amounts owing), 39-11.5-109 (the initial auction scheduled thirty to sixty calendar days after the notice is mailed), 39-11.5-303 and 39-11.5-112 (claims for overbid money and payment of the remainder to the property owner), and 39-11.5-501 (title vesting at the close of the eighth business day after the auction). It also amends C.R.S. 39-11-101, 39-11-109, 39-11-115 and 39-11-148 and adds the treasurer fee schedule at C.R.S. 30-1-102 (1.7). Its applicability clause reaches any treasurer's deed issued on or after June 1, 2026 regardless of when the tax lien was sold. New language is printed in capitals.
C.R.S. 39-12-103 (Redemption made, interest), reprinted in full by the Colorado Division of Banking
The Division of Banking publishes the full text of this section alongside the rate it is required to set. Subsection (3) provides that redemption may be made upon payment to the treasurer of the taxes, delinquent interest and costs for which the lien was sold, with redemption interest from the date of sale, and that the annual rate of redemption interest is nine percentage points above the discount rate a commercial bank pays to the federal reserve bank using a government bond or other eligible paper as security, rounded to the nearest full percent, established by the commissioner of banking on September 1 of each year to become effective on October 1 of the same year. Subsection (5) makes statutory fees paid by the purchaser bear the same rate, and subsection (6) counts portions of months as whole months. The page states the current rate effective October 1, 2026 is 13 percent, and separately that the C.R.S. 39-12-111 rate cannot be set below 8 percent.
State Bank Commissioner memorandum of September 1, 2026 setting the C.R.S. 39-12-103 rate
The one page memorandum that fixes the figure for the coming year, and the reason no single rate can be quoted as permanent. It states that the interest rate established pursuant to C.R.S. 39-12-103, for the period beginning October 1, 2026, is 13 percent, and that the rate is established by adding nine percentage points to the federal discount rate of 3.75 percent as of September 1, 2026 and rounding to the nearest full percent. A fresh memorandum issues every September 1.
Morgan County Treasurer: tax lien sale, premium bids and the rate for a given sale year
A county treasurer page showing how the formula lands in practice. It states that the interest rate on taxes purchased at the tax lien sale is nine percentage points above the discount rate paid to the Federal Reserve Bank on September 1, that the rate on the certificate will remain the same for the life of that certificate, and that the interest rate for the 2025 sale is 14 percent. It also states that minimum premium bids are one dollar, that successful premium bids are not refunded, and that a redemption payment will not include any premium bid refunds.
Saguache County Treasurer and Public Trustee: payment dates and the monthly charge
A county office page stating the dates and the charge a delinquent owner first meets, which track C.R.S. 39-10-102 and C.R.S. 39-10-104.5. It answers when property tax is due with first half February 28, second half June 15, or full payment April 30, and answers the question on the penalty with one percent per month. The statute itself sets delinquency at June 16 for taxes due January 1, accrues one percent per month from March 1 on an unpaid first installment and from June 16 on an unpaid second installment, and counts portions of months as whole months.
San Juan County Treasurer: the office that takes a redemption payment
Confirms the office a redeeming owner deals with and the three payment options under C.R.S. 39-10-104.5, listing the first half payment due February 28, the second half due June 15 and the full payment due April 30, with a mailing address for payment by post. Because C.R.S. 39-12-103 deems a payment received on the date it is actually received in the treasurer's office rather than on a postmark date, the mailing route is the slowest one near a deadline.
San Juan County Treasurer: tax lien sale terms and what a certificate buyer gets
States that the sale does not convey the right of possession, use, improvement or access to the property, that the buyer is purchasing a lien on which they are entitled to interest, and that the lien may be redeemed by the property owner at any time prior to the issuance of a treasurer's deed. It also states that by statute the annual percentage interest rate is set each year at nine points above the Federal Discount Rate as of September 1 and that portions of a month are counted as whole months. Read it together with C.R.S. 39-11.5-106, which sets the filing deadline an owner must meet before the auction.
Regional Variances
Colorado delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
A tax lien sale followed, years later, by a separate deed auction. At the first sale the treasurer sells a lien on the property and the buyer receives a certificate of purchase, bid up by premium, with the excess credited to the county general fund (C.R.S. 39-11-115). The owner keeps title. Since June 1, 2026 a deed issues only after the treasurer holds a public auction of a certificate of option for a treasurer's deed (C.R.S. 39-11.5-102, 39-11.5-109).
Delinquency dates
Taxes become due and payable January 1 of the year following the levy and delinquent June 16 of that year (C.R.S. 39-10-102). A taxpayer may instead pay in two equal installments, the first on or before the last day of February and the second no later than June 15, or in full on or before the last day of April with no delinquent interest (C.R.S. 39-10-104.5). Amounts under twenty-five dollars must be paid in full by the last day of April.
Interest before the sale
One percent per month, simple, from the date missed. It accrues from March 1 on an unpaid first installment, from June 16 on an unpaid second installment, and from May 1 where the full payment option was taken but paid late (C.R.S. 39-10-104.5). Portions of months are counted as whole months. A charge of up to twenty-five dollars may be added to a delinquency totaling less than fifty dollars.
Time before the sale
Two waits, not one. The tax lien sale on the previous year's unpaid taxes must commence on or before the second Monday in December (C.R.S. 39-11-109). The certificate holder may then apply for a treasurer's deed only after August 1 of the third calendar year following the date of that tax lien sale, and the application opens the auction track rather than producing a deed (C.R.S. 39-11.5-102).
Redemption period and clock
Not a fixed number of months. Interest runs from the date of the tax lien sale, and the closing edge is tied to the later deed auction: an owner is entitled to redeem only if an intent to redeem is filed with the treasurer no later than seven calendar days before the currently scheduled public auction date, and the resulting redemption statement is effective for ten business days or until noon the day before that auction, whichever comes first (C.R.S. 39-11.5-106). Title vests at the close of the eighth business day after the auction (C.R.S. 39-11.5-501). C.R.S. 39-12-103, which the 2026 act did not amend, separately states that redemption may be made at any time before the execution of a treasurer's deed.
Redeemer's charge
A simple annual rate set by formula and locked to the sale year, not a flat statutory figure and not a bid-down rate. The annual rate of redemption interest is nine percentage points above the discount rate, rounded to the nearest full percent, established by the commissioner of banking on September 1 each year and effective October 1 (C.R.S. 39-12-103). The figure for the period beginning October 1, 2026 is 13 percent; the Morgan County Treasurer publishes 14 percent for the 2025 sale and states the rate stays the same for the life of the certificate. Portions of months count as whole months, and the investor's premium is not repaid.
Other redemption costs
Subsequent years' taxes the holder paid and endorsed on the certificate, plus statutory fees paid by the purchaser, all bearing the same rate (C.R.S. 39-12-103). On the deed track every fee and cost incurred is chargeable as an additional amount owing under the certificate of purchase and must appear itemized in the statement of redemption (C.R.S. 39-11.5-107, 39-11.5-108). Named caps include three hundred dollars for processing a deed application, no more than twenty-five dollars for a notice of intent to redeem and thirty dollars for a certificate of redemption, all inflation adjusted from January 1, 2027 (C.R.S. 30-1-102).
Notice to the owner
Before the lien sale: first class mail no later than September 1 stating the delinquency and allowing at least fifteen calendar days (C.R.S. 39-11-101), plus newspaper publication beginning at least four weeks before the sale and a posted notice in the treasurer's office for four weeks (C.R.S. 39-11-102). Before the deed auction: mailed notice of the recorded application within ten calendar days, a mailing list reaching the owner, occupant, recorded lessee and junior lienors, publication once a week for three successive weeks, and posting on the property, with both the publication and the posting beginning no less than thirty calendar days ahead (C.R.S. 39-11.5-104, 39-11.5-105).
Where to redeem
The county treasurer, an office many counties title Treasurer and Public Trustee. The owner files the intent to redeem with the treasurer and pays the treasurer by the method that office specifies (C.R.S. 39-11.5-106). Payment is deemed received on the date it is actually received in the treasurer's office, not on a postmark date, and the treasurer issues a certificate of redemption once satisfied of the right to redeem (C.R.S. 39-12-103, 39-12-105).
Surplus proceeds
Claimable at the deed auction only. The minimum bid is the lawful holder's total debt including treasurer fees and costs, so anything above it is overbid; it is paid in recording priority to junior lienors who filed a claim within eight business days of the auction, and any remainder must be paid to the property owner between the ninth and fifteenth business day (C.R.S. 39-11.5-303, 39-11.5-112). The treasurer mails notice within thirty calendar days of the claim period closing and holds unclaimed amounts in escrow for two years. The premium bid at the earlier lien sale is not a surplus: it goes to the county general fund (C.R.S. 39-11-115).
Payment plan
No statutory installment plan of redemption once the lien is sold. What exists is a pre-sale right: the taxpayer continues to have the option of paying delinquent property taxes in two equal installments until one day prior to the sale of the tax lien on that property, with one percent per month still accruing (C.R.S. 39-10-104.5). The treasurer may also refrain from collecting penalty, delinquent interest or costs where the amount is fifty dollars or less, and may accept an estimated prepayment of current year taxes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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